Time Apart

"Did you have a fight or something?" Asked a girl on my cooking course when I told her Peter and I were travelling apart for a few days.

"No, it's just for fun," I told her, pounding my lemongrass. "The idea is to have time apart so we don't have a fight," I joked.

The thing is, Peter and I have quite separate social lives in London. Peter goes for drinks with his work friends and I have my book group. When we go for walks along the canal in Islington we always have plenty to talk about. Spending time together back home is more fun because we aren't with each other during all our free time. But for the past two months travelling through Southeast Asia, we have spent nearly every day together and all our time is "free time". True, Peter went mountain biking in Luang Prabang while I relaxed in town. We often run errands on our own - one of us buys bus tickets while the other gets food for the journey. But although we've spent many hours apart, we've always travelled together.

Sunday, I made my way to pretty Hoi An and Peter stayed on the train for a further eight hours to the beach city of Nha Trang. I love exploring a new place, but the logistics of getting there and finding somewhere to stay are often annoying by-products of travel. Arriving in Hoi An on my own was exhilarating. The touts were all mine to deal with, but the joy of dumping my bag at a guesthouse and wandering the streets of a new town, was mine alone as well.

When we planned our career break in London, we discussed both wanting to have some time to travel on our own. This was the first time so far that we actually put this idea into action.

Hoi An (a UNESCO World Heritage town), was an important trading port from the 15th to 19th centuries. The colourful traditional buildings have a certain crumbling charm and reflect a mix of foreign and local architectural styles. The town has a thriving crafts and tailor-made clothing industry. Although I have no need for a handmade silk embroidery painting, clothing is always tempting.

Have you heard of these Asian tailor shops which crank out custom-made clothing? In a few days they can make you a fitted suit or dress for a fraction of the price that you would pay at home. I will be looking for a job when I get back to London, so a tailored "interview suit" would be more useful than a silk lantern. The only problem is quality which apparently varies dramatically. Most of the Hoi An tailors display large, handwritten signs supposedly from satisfied customers. "Stop! Look no further! This is the best tailor shop in Hoi An. My friend and I got clothes somewhere else but they weren't good. We came here and got a really nice dress made. You won’t be disappointed! - Maddy Miller, USA" Sure thing Maddy, but I wasn't keen to take a recommendation from a handwritten sign.

I met wonderful French Canadian Julie and her boyfriend Nick on my cooking course and we spent most of our time in Hoi An together. I accompanied Julie to her first suit fitting. The shop had fixed prices and customers' business cards instead of cheesy signs. I was so impressed by Julie's suit that I decided to have one made for myself.

As I selected a bolt of grey cashmere wool and had my measurements taken, 550km away Peter was underwater in a swimming pool starting his PADI training. Over the next several days I popped back to the tailor's for fittings. The trousers were a little too large here, the shirt a little too tight there. The friendly shop assistants marked up my clothes with chalk and told me to return in a few hours once the alterations were made. Meanwhile Peter graduated from the swimming pool and was out in the South China Sea, testing out his SCUBA equipment and experimenting with neutral buoyancy. (He’s apparently a complete natural.)

Predawn one morning, Julie, Nick, German surgeons Sylvia and Marcus (also from the cooking class), their friends and I, chartered a minivan to the Cham ruins, My Son. Our aim was to beat the tour groups to this “mini Angkor Wat”. Indeed, my little group was the first to explore the site that day. It was amazing seeing the sun rise over the hills behind the 7th century Hindu temples and all the more special having it to ourselves.

Back in Hoi An, my suit was finished and turned out beautifully. For the curious, the suit (jacket and trousers) was US$100 plus an additional $30 for the matching skirt and $15 for the pale blue shirt. They all fit me perfectly. I’m in no rush to start interviewing for jobs, but when I do I’ve got my outfit sorted.

Yesterday I arrived in Nha Trang and Peter and I were reunited after four days apart. We walked barefoot along the beach, picking up spiral shells and filling each other in on what we’d been up to. We passed a Vietnamese woman selling pet guinea pigs on the beach front and had a good laugh. It’s good to be together again.

- Nha Trang, Vietnam